Red Hat has announced that Charlene Begley, a former executive at General Electric company, has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors.

“We are pleased to welcome Charlene Begley to our board. With her extensive business and leadership experience, she will add a valuable perspective as Red Hat continues its focus on developing innovative technologies to help enterprises leverage the power of open source to meet their IT and business needs,” said General H. Hugh Shelton (U.S. Army Retired), Chairman of Red Hat’s Board of Directors.

Begley served in various capacities at General Electric from 1988 through December 2013. Most recently, she served in a dual role as Senior Vice-President and Chief Information Officer, as well as the President and Chief Executive Officer of GE’s Home and Business Solutions business from January 2010 through December 2013. Ms Begley served as President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Enterprise Solutions from August 2007 through December 2009. During her career at GE, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Plastics and GE Transportation, led GE’s Corporate Audit staff and served as the Chief Financial Officer for GE Transportation and GE Plastics Europe and India. Ms Begley is currently a Director and member of the audit committee of The NASDAQ OMX Group.